Objective: This study aimed to clarify whether exercising with others desirably influenced the maintenance of exercise behavior and if that was moderated by demographic factors and extraversion (a personality trait) among older adults.

Methods: Questionnaire surveys were longitudinally conducted three times (at baseline, and after one year and three years) on older adults in Nada Ward, Kobe City. Among the respondents, 434 and 380 individuals were analyzed for the one- and three-year maintenance period, respectively.

Results: Multiple regression analyses revealed that exercising with others did not significantly regress the maintenance of exercise behavior for both periods. Among the interaction terms of demographic factors and extraversion with exercising with others, the interaction term of working status with exercising with others regressed significantly on the three-year maintenance of exercise behavior. Stratified analyses showed that current workers were more likely to be positively influenced by exercising with others; however, this was not statistically significant.

Conclusions: The present study indicates that the influence of exercising with others on maintenance of exercise behavior is limited and may be moderated by individuals’ working status among older adults.

Objective: The present study aimed to evaluate the relationship between knee extensor strength and walking independence and determine the cutoff knee extensor strength for walking independence in post-stroke hemiplegic patients.

Methods: This cross-sectional study included stroke patients consecutively admitted to convalescent rehabilitation wards. Binary logistic regression analysis was used to examine whether knee extensor strength on the paralyzed, nonparalyzed, and bilateral sides was associated with walking independence. Further, the receiver operating characteristic curve and Youden index were used to calculate the cutoff knee extensor strength for walking independence.

Results: We included 658 patients (median age: 74 years, 45% female) in this study, of which 393 (60%) were able to walk independently. Each knee extensor strength variable was independently correlated with walking independence (all, P<0.001). The cutoff values of knee extensor strength for walking independence were 0.631 Nm/kg, 1.010 Nm/kg, and 1.621 Nm/kg for the paralyzed, nonparalyzed, and bilateral sides, respectively.

Conclusion: Knee extensor strength can be a criterion to decide for independence in walking in post-stroke hemiplegic patients in convalescent rehabilitation wards.

Objective: Clinical symptoms due to periarthritis of the shoulder (also known as frozen shoulder) during activities of daily living (ADL) and instrumental activities of daily living (IADL) can differ based on sex. We used patient medical records to study these differences.

Methods: We analyzed 45 patients (17 males, 28 females) who were diagnosed with unilateral periarthritis of the shoulder and underwent physical therapy. Their background information was collected at the start of physical therapy along with test results for physical function, diagnostic imaging, and the Shoulder36 (Sh36) questionnaire.

Results: Significant differences were observed in the extent of nocturnal pain, abduction of the affected shoulder, grip strength, humeral head diameter, and glenohumeral angle between male and female patients. Regarding the Sh36, female patients had a significantly lower outcome in 17 out of 36 items. In the Sh36 domain, female patients had significantly lower outcomes in 5 items except for sense of health.

Conclusion: Our findings suggest sex differences in the effects of periarthritis of the shoulder on daily life. Clinicians should consider patients’ sex when evaluating ADL/IADL restrictions caused by frozen shoulder.

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to clarify whether there is a difference in temporal changes in patients with secondary osteoarthritis of the hip according to the stage of the disease when physical therapy was applied.

Methods: Fifty subjects were classified into three groups using the Kellgren/Lawrence classification: 14 subjects in the Grade 1 (KL1) group, 20 subjects in the Grade 2 (KL2) group, and 16 subjects in the Grade 3 (KL3) group. Physiotherapy intervention was provided for 3 months. Pain, activities of daily living (ADL), and physical functions were periodically measured.

Results: The KL3 group had more pain and lower ADL and physical functions throughout the 3 months, but showed improvement over the 3 months regardless of KL classification. Age-adjusted flexion, abduction, and internal rotation range of motion (IR ROM) were lower in the KL3 group, with no significant change in IR ROM over the 3 months.

Conclusion: Physical therapy for secondary OA of the hip showed improvement in pain, ADL, and physical functions over the 3 months regardless the stage of the disease.

Objectives: We aimed to determine the relationship between the assessment of frailty using the Kihon Checklist (KCL) and 30-Second Chair Stand Test (CS30) in late-stage older patients with heart disease.

Methods: A total of 141 patients were included in this study. The inclusion criteria were as follows: (1) 75 years or older (mean age 79.6±3.4 years); (2) those with heart diseases; (3) those registered as outpatients for lifestyle-related diseases. Their total KCL score, body composition, physical function (grip strength, CS30, one leg standing time), exercise habits, and exercise tolerance were measured, and the relationships among these variables were analyzed.

Results: The total KCL score was used to classify the participants. Approximately 20% of the participants were frailty. CS30 results were significantly associated with frailty (odds ratio: 0.795, 95% confidence interval: 0.663-0.952, p=0.013).

Conclusions: A poor CS30 result is one of the important index representing the characteristic of frailty in late-stage older patients with heart disease.

Objective: Fibromyalgia (FM) is symptomized by widespread musculoskeletal pain, with very few reports studying the histological changes in muscles during disease progression. Our study aims to investigate any histopathological alterations in skeletal muscles using a rat model of FM.

Methods: An FM model was developed using a subcutaneous injection of reserpine, a biogenic amine depleting agent, into the back skin of male Sprague-Dawley rats (7–8 weeks old). Two days post-injection, we observed for any inflammatory changes, such as necrotic fibers and centrally nucleated fibers, and further measured the cross-sectional area of myofibers.

Results: While no visible changes associated with inflammation were observed, a significant decrease in myofiber cross-sectional area was noted.

Conclusions: Our study provides evidence of histological changes in the muscle, using a rat reserpine-induced FM model. These findings are valuable in understanding the pathophysiology and to further optimize physical therapy approaches for FM.